In protest against Ofgem’s tips, which were labeled as “patronizing rubbish” by one Labour MP, Fuel Poverty Action are demonstrating outside the regulator’s office in what they are calling the Packed Lunch Protest.

Energy watchdog Ofgem caused uproar on Tuesday after suggesting
families struggling with heating bills should make packed lunches
and take flasks of coffee to work in order to free up funds.

Ofgem’s suggestions come as figures reveal UK energy firms made
an average of £114 profit per household over the past 13 months.

Fuel Poverty Action, however, said instead of issuing
“patronizing advice” the Big Six energy firms needed to
modify their behavior.

Activists claim nearly 3,000 people in the UK die each week
during the winter because their homes are poorly insulated and
they cannot afford to top up the meter.

Speaking to RT at the protest Clare Welton said the situation was
“absurd" and called the measures "insulting".

“Ofgem is dishing out insulting and patronizing advice and is
telling poor people to change their behavior, when it’s the Big
Six who need to change their behavior.

“We’re protesting to highlight the absurdity of the situation
– thousands of people are dying, we know the bills have been
rigged to benefit the Big Six and yet somehow it’s lunchtime meal
deals that are to blame.”

"People on normal incomes can't have the heating on as much
as they want to" she added, saying that having worked with
children, she saw that increasing numbers were coming into
schools cold and hungry.

The Big Six declared profits of £2.9 billion in the last year,
with profits rising by 50 percent. The average annual household
energy bill is £1,300.

Ofgem's other tips for families living on the bread line include
cancelling a gym membership in favor of jogging or ‘getting fit
for free’, and getting a SIM only mobile phone to reduce charging
for texts and calls.

The regulator says that by making packed lunches, the average
worker would save £735.80 each year, and not purchasing a daily
morning coffee would save a further £676.

Ofgem estimates that if all their suggestions were put into
practice, consumers could save up to £2,075.80 each year.

Demonstrators chanted "packed lunches won't keep us
warm" and demonstrators read extracts from the Energy Bill
of Rights, one of the group's main campaigns.

Welton further said that as well as staging a protest, the group
is launching a petition against the Big Six.

“We’re having to start our own petition to get the money out
of the Big Six that they should never have taken in the first
place. We are sick and tired of the excuses and inaction of the
government and Ofgem who are standing idly by, propping up the
poverty profiteers whilst thousands of people die this
winter.”

“The solution is clear: home insulation and a move towards
affordable, sustainable and democratically owned energy, away
from the Big Six who have proven themselves time and time again
unfit to run our energy system,” she added.

Labour MP Caroline Flint also called the suggestions
“patronizing rubbish,” saying “people don't need
lecturing on taking a packed lunch to work, jogging round the
block or getting a second-hand mobile phone, they need a
regulator that will stop energy companies ripping them off.”